Sony PlayStation 3 Game Console

By now you may have read Al Griffin's review of the Sony PlayStation 3 game console featured in the January 2007 Sound & Vision. Since Sony is the major driving force behind the development of the Blu-ray Disc format, it's no real surprise that Al found the PS3 to be a stellar movie player. And, at roughly $400 less than the other players currently on the market, the PS3 is a steal even if you never drop in a game and feel the thrill of teeing up with Tiger, wrestling with Shaq down in the paint, or emptying a clip into a Chimera.

Still, the PS3 is a gaming machine first and foremost. So, if you're interested in finding out what the PS3 has to offer besides playing movies, you've come to the right place. As Paul Harvey says, here's "the rest of the story ...."

When it launched the original PlayStation back in September 1995, Sony was a nobody in the gaming market, going up against stalwarts Sega and Nintendo. But by the time the PlayStation 2 launched in October 2000, Sony virtually owned that market, selling more than 500,000 units in the U.S. on launch day alone. Fast-forward to November 17, 2006, and we have the Episode III of PlayStations, complete with quite a bit more hoopla. What other gaming system could claim to have hardcore gamers standing in line for days - even braving shootings, robberies, and riots - in hopes of snagging one of the few chassis initially available? (As it turns out, Sony missed its launch goal by 50%, delivering fewer than 200,000 PS3s to the U.S. because of a shortage of critical parts needed for the Blu-ray player.) Demand for the next-gen console was so high that units were fetching close to $3,000 on eBay. A friend of mine sold his place in line - not a unit, mind you, but his place in line to buy a unit - for $1,200!

Obviously, this amount of hype demands the question: Is the PS3 worth it?